johnlink ranks PERFECT STRANGER (2007)
I have mixed feelings about Halle Berry. While I certainly think she has proven herself a powerful actress in films like MONSTER’S BALL, I also can never remember the time she prostituted herself out at the MTV movie awards years ago. She stood on the stage, next to Travolta and Jackman, pointed at her tits and said something along the lines of “If you want to see these, go to the theaters and watch SWORDFISH.” It was lame. It lacked subtlety. Kate Winslet is much more subtle. She gets naked in everything she does, so she just makes you assume that anything she is in allows you to see her naked. But I digress…
PERFECT STRANGER has a reporter (Halle Berry) going undercover to dig up dirt (including a possible homicide) on an ad exec (Bruce Willis).
I watched PERFECT STRANGER (2007) on 7.10.09. It was my first viewing of the film.
NOTE: THIS RANKING UTILIZES THIS SITE’S ORIGINAL SYSTEMIC ARTICLE WRITING METHOD. THE METHOD BY WHICH THE RANKINGS WERE ARRIVED AT, HOWEVER, REMAINS THE SAME.
FILM
A movie with a bunch of characters lacking morality. It is hard to root for anyone. I know RESERVOIR DOGS had a bunch of characters with low moral fiber, but at least you wanted some of them to do well. And as far as filmmaking chops, PERFECT STRANGER thinks it is a better movie than it is. The ‘interestingly’ shot flashbacks are silly. The worst, though, has to be that convention that films do which makes me want to punch the director and editor in the face. We see a scene, and some important dialogue happens. Then, five minutes later, a character is shown ‘thinking’ and we see the same lines spoken again, just in case we did not realize it was important. How stupid do you think the audience is? Really! SCORE: 3
MOVIE
Some twists and turns, all of which show characters being darker than we previously thought. I found myself anticipating the ending, not because I was excited to see how it turned out, but because I just wanted it to get there already. A movie where you know some twist must be coming, and it does. The only discover that actually is any good is the very last shot of the movie, which made me at least nod and say ‘Okay, that was cool.” SCORE: 5
ACTING
The acting was average to above average. I give them a little credit for working with a script which tries to be witty but falls flat. Halle Berry tries to get a lot of milage out of low cut shirts. Bruce Willis is effectively chauvinistic and Giovani Ribisi is a solid sidekick. SCORE: 5.
WRITING
Sucks. A movie where a twist was considered and a plot was made to go around it. The dialogue has some Kevin Smith styling to it, but it does not work at all in a movie like this. Never felt believable. SCORE: 2
FINAL TALLY
FILM: 3; MOVIE: 5; ACTING: 5; WRITING: 2
3+5+5+2+0= 15
FINAL SCORE: 3.75
johnlinkmovies 